A good number of people on Long Island are stressed by excessive exterior noise coming inside their home through old noisy windows. For those of us who live in high activity areas, near highways or airports, or just plain loud places, exterior noise is a fact of life, but Renewal by Andersen of Long Island has a potential remedy for the noise — noise-reducing replacement windows. In this post we’ll discuss everything you need to know about noise-reducing replacement windows, from how these windows work, how to manage your expectations of them, and how to decide if these are, in fact, the windows for you.
In a true display of marketing genius, noise-reducing windows are so named because they are designed to put a dent in the amount of outside noise that manages to sneak its way into your home. That unwanted sound is able to work its way through your current windows because they lack the impact-resistant glass with a laminated polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer. This noise-reducing interlayer between the panes of glass performs the all-important function of breaking up sound waves as they pass through the glass, thus reducing the noise that you can actually hear from inside. Replacement windows with this PVB interlayer are able to achieve this great sound reduction because it is a different density than the glass it is surrounded by, and it is the most important player in noise reducing windows.
How Do Noise-Reducing Windows Work?
The design of noise-reducing window is all well and good, but how can you know for sure that there is actually less noise coming through your window than there was previously. Fortunately, somebody thought the same thing and developed the STC (Sound Transition Class) Rating— a system that measures how much sound is prevented by a material or structure. Windows have a wide rage of potential STC Ratings, from 18 (the least preventive) to 38 (the most preventive), and your average single-paned window clocks in at around 27. Every time the STC rating goes up a point, it represents a very significant amount of sound prevention. Renewal by Andersen’s 400 series replacement windows have been given a rating of 34, a massive jump from the standard 27.
Are Noise Reducing Windows 100 Percent Soundproof?
Now that we’ve covered how noise-reducing windows work, it’s time to discuss another, equally important, issue— expectations management. It’s not uncommon for people to wonder if noise-reducing windows will make their home fully soundproof, and the answer is that they will not. Not only will sound always find a way to weasel its way into your home, but the human body is a spectacularly adaptive thing. Once your new noise-reducing windows have quieted your home significantly, your adaptive ears will be able to pick up sounds that you may not have heard before. Make no mistake, the difference between the sound before and the sound after is considerable, but if the Foo Fighters decide the throw a concert in your backyard, you’ll hear it.
Misleading Noise Reduction Statistics on Long Island
During any major decision making process, statistics can be both your best friend and your worst nightmare. Raw data is a great, objective way to look at information, but too often statistics are misinterpreted, and when you’re looking at noise-reduction statistics, you’re going to want to look for these key words: “Instrument-Measured” and “Perceived”. A statistic can claim that noise was reduced 90% when instrument-measured, which sounds fantastic, but it’s important to keep in mind that what a machine says is 90% and what a human perceives as 90% can be two very different things. The truth of it is that you will perceive less noise reduction than the instrument does, and going in armed with that knowledge is of the utmost importance.
Are Noise-Reducing Windows Right For You?
Noise-reducing windows will not make your home “soundproof”. Fortunately, for most people, soundproof is not what they’re looking for. They’re looking to feel less stressed from excessive noise during the day, and aim to sleep more soundly at night. If you’re looking for a home that is a sanctuary in a hectic world, noise-reducing windows may be just the things you need.
Have more questions about how Renewal by Andersen of Long Island can help you make noise-reducing windows a part of your life? As a subsidiary of Andersen Windows, we have been providing people with quality windows to improve their homes for generations. Our experienced design consultants will ensure that your replacement windows live up to, and exceed, your expectations. Call us today at (866) 609-5033 or fill out the short form on this page for more information or a free design consultation.
